Hesel: Forest, History and Activity
Accommodation in Hesel
If you choose Hesel for your holiday, you can focus on different aspects of nature, history and activity. Local highlights range from walks in Hesel Forest and church and settlement history to swimming and a 41 km cycling tour. When looking for a holiday apartment, a good starting point is the kind of holiday you want: should your days be mostly outdoors, focused on cultural history or shaped by sport?
Explore forest trails and nature
Hesel Forest is home to an adventure playground and a tree trail, as well as extensive woodland walks where you can observe local wildlife. Each offers something different: walks focus on exercise and observing nature, the tree trail draws attention to the trees, and the playground adds another activity to a visit to the forest. You can tailor your time in the forest to your own interests.
Around Gut Stikelkamp, about 5 km of woodland trails also invite you to go for a walk. If you prefer to plan around an approximate distance, you’ll find a rough route length there; the nature experience in Hesel Forest centres on longer walks and wildlife watching. These two options offer different ways to spend a day outdoors.
Cultural history at the exhibition, church and estate
The Archaeological Exhibition at Villa Popken presents the settlement history of the geest village of Hesel, from the Stone and Bronze Ages through to the Middle Ages. One section focuses on Barthe Monastery in Hesel Forest. The broad time span and the specific focus on the monastery offer two ways to explore the area’s history.
The medieval St. Ludger’s Church had to be demolished because it had fallen into disrepair; a new church was built in 1742. The pulpit with corner columns and reliefs of the Evangelists, as well as the altar with its Last Supper painting, were created in 1653 by Tönnies Mahler of Leer, a carpenter, woodcarver and panel painter. The church thus brings together two dates: the construction of the new building in 1742 and the earlier furnishings from 1653.
Gut Stikelkamp was once an outlying estate of the former Johanniterkloster Hasselt. The surviving residential building is thought to date from around 1400 and reflects the domestic culture of prosperous farming households in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Several historical perspectives come together here: the estate’s former function, the tentative dating of the residential building and the domestic culture shown across several centuries. Compared with the Archaeological Exhibition, the focus here is particularly on the history of home life.
Swimming and cycling
Hesel swimming pool has a 16.66 × 8.00 metre pool with a movable floor. Following renovations in 2013/2014 and 2023/2024, the pool is once again open to the public. This adds another activity to your holiday plans alongside walking and exploring cultural history.
The 41 km Hesel Adventure Route is a cycling tour that includes, among other things, a river crossing on a “do-it-yourself ferry”. As the ferry’s seasonal operating schedule may vary, check before setting off whether the crossing will be available on your chosen date. The route offers a different kind of outing from a walk: you’ll plan a longer journey by bike that includes a ferry crossing. Which of these options you prioritise can also help guide your choice of holiday apartment in Hesel.
Discover more destinations
Discover more destinations: Kleinhesel, Siebestock, Neuemoor, Beningafehn, Brinkum, Firrel, Neukamperfehn, Jemgum.
For the overview of the wider area, see: Leer.
